1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to an apparatus for assessing the risk of cerebrovascular diseases, particularly an apparatus for assessing the risk of cerebrovascular diseases by measuring the state of blood flow in a non-invasive manner.
2. Description of the Related Art
Attention has been focused on the metabolic syndrome recently. The metabolic syndrome increases the incidence of various thrombotic diseases such as cardiovascular diseases and cerebral infarction and has therefore been a social issue.
It has been known that lesions in cerebral white matter and non-symptomatic cerebral infarction caused by chronic ischemia following the consolidation of brain arteriolae are powerful risk factors of the occurrence of cerebral infarction as one of diseases in relation with cerebrovascular diseases (namely, the risk of cerebrovascular diseases). Findings about the risk of cerebrovascular diseases can be discovered by head MRI examinations (Patent Reference 1).
However, disadvantageously, MRI examinations are costly with a long scanning time and are sensitive to motions. Furthermore, disadvantageously, MRI apparatuses are not transportable or cannot make images when persons to be examined put on metal-made materials, life maintenance apparatuses, aspirators or other similar apparatuses.